The Future’s in Our Hands: Reclaiming our rivers Adam Ashman, Amy-Jane Beer, John Lawton, Rachael Maskell, Marie Taylor and Sarah Thompson (chair)

Adam Ashman has over 20 years experience working across infrastructure asset management, operations, maintenance and engineering. A Chartered Engineer, he is the Head of Partnerships and Sustainability at Yorkshire Water, seeking to created shared value while addressing important topics such as Yorkshire Water’s adaptation to a changing climate, the transition to Net Zero, and the enhancement of our natural environment through long-term sustainable improvements. Adam is a huge advocate of solving problems through innovation and the multiple benefits that come from working and learning together within diverse partnerships.

Dr Amy-Jane Beer is an award-winning author, biologist, naturalist and campaigner. She is a Country Diarist for The Guardian and a columnist for British Wildlife. Her recent books include the Wainwright Prize winning The Flow: rivers, water and wildness and the newly published A River Running Through You.  As a co-director of the Right to Roam campaign, Amy advocates for a right to access and care for rivers and the English countryside in acts of 'wild service'. She is President of the National Park Society Friends of the Dales, but lives between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds on the Yorkshire Derwent.

Sir John Lawton was Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (2005–2011). He served as Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council (1999–2005) and Director of the Centre for Population Biology at Imperial College (1989–1999). Trained as a zoologist at the University of Durham, John subsequently held posts at the universities of Oxford and York. His scientific interests have focused on the population dynamics and biodiversity of birds and insects, with an emphasis over the last three decades on the impacts of global environmental change. He is a past President of the British Ecological Society and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and a former Chairman of the RSPB Council. He is currently a Vice-President of RSPB. John was knighted in 2005 for his contributions to ecological science. He has been awarded numerous other national and international prizes, including the 2004 Japan Prize. He was elected as a Foreign Member of both the US National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008.

Rachael Maskell was elected as the Member of Parliament for York Central in 2015 and campaigns tirelessly for her constituents in York Central. With a career in the NHS, working as a senior physiotherapist in ITU and acute medicine and as the Head of Health at Unite, Rachael continues to use her expertise in Westminster to progress healthcare and protect the NHS and is Vice Chair of the Health and Social Care Health Select Committee. With the challenges people experience in York, Rachael has recently advanced legislation to regulate Short Term Holiday Lets, and speaks regularly on issues from housing and development, the economy, health and social care and the environment and climate. As a trade unionist, she also makes the case for advancing workers’ rights, not least through her Bill to tackle Bullying at Work.

Marie Taylor is CEO of the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT). She joined the Trust in 2017 as a Project Officer, becoming Operations Director in 2020 and CEO in 2022. She leads the strategic direction of the Trust, enabling her team to deliver practical, high-impact environmental solutions aligned with YDRT’s mission. With over a decade of experience in the environmental charity sector, including three years at board level, Marie focuses on building organisational resilience and partnerships that deliver lasting benefits for nature and communities. Marie’s career began at the Lincolnshire Rivers Trust, where she coordinated the River Witham Catchment under DEFRA’s Catchment Based Approach. She led projects in river habitat restoration, invasive species management, citizen science, and environmental education, working closely with stakeholders such as the Environment Agency, Anglian Water, and local authorities.

Professor Sarah Thompson is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research at the University of York, UK and has a particular interest in how the University partners with business, industry and policy makers. She has previously held the roles of Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor Research, Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Sciences and Head of the Department of Physics at the University and has served as Vice President of the Institute of Physics (Science and Innovation). Her research interests are in nanomagnetism and nanoscale thermal transport and she has also won awards from the Institute of Physics and the British Association for science outreach. In 2012 she was awarded an MBE for services to Higher Education.